“He had the strength and the desire and the passion and all that sort of thing within his game. He also had authority. If he was running with the ball, there was no way that you would even think of taking it off him.”

“I will also spend 10 days with the All Whites when they come in for the Malaysian matches. We will also look at players in Australia when the state leagues start next month. There are other players in Europe we have targeted. We are also keen to have a look in Asia.”

“We made him a substantial offer. He was a Kiwi player we really wanted. I was a bit worried he was over-valued because of the leagues he's played in. Now he's gone to one of the most unstable clubs in the A-League.”